Label laminator device



Sept. 5, 1967 D, DUNN ETAL 3,347113@ LABEL LAMINATOR DEVICE Filed Nov, 19, 1964 2 shams-shea r UIMM,I

Sept. 5, 1967 L. D, DUNN ET AL 3,340,130

. LABEL LAMINATOR DEvlE Filed Nov. 19, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent O 3,340,130 LABEL LAMINATOR DEVICE Lyman D. Dunn, Chicago, and Stanley Gembicki, Des

Plaines, Ill., assignors to Marlan Company, a corporation of Illinois Filed Nov. 19, 1964, Ser. No. 412,394 11 Claims. (Cl. 156-552) This application relates to laminating devices and more particularly to a new and improved device for coating a tag or card with a strip of adhesive.

Many tags, cards, envelopes or labels are afixed to packages, large envelopes, or the like, either by applying an adhesive coating to the back of the tag, by activating a self-contained supply of adhesive on the tag, or by the use of staples. After so preparing the tag for securement to the envelope or carton, the tag is then placed thereupon leaving the information 'bearing surface eX- posed not only to view, but also exposed to the elements and to engagement with other packages or the like during handling and transit. This may be true whether the tag is a mailing label placed on a package or an envelope afiixed to a package to be sent through the mails, or Whether it is some sort of an information card or tag to be suitably applied to a file or the like which may be subjected to abuse either in every day use or in storage.

Thus it has become desirable to provide a means for aiiixing a transparent protective coating to a label or tag which is to be affixed to an appropriate surface of a container, and it has become further desirable to provide ysuch a protective coating which also affords the adhering surface for the label or tag.

It is therefore a general object of this invention to provide a new and improved laminating device.

It is a primary object of this inventionvto provide a new and improved laminating device adapted to provide a protective coating over the information bearing face of a tag or label wherein the protective coating has peripheral borders which extend beyond the borders of the tag or label to present an adhesive surface by means of which the coating as well as the tag or label may `be secured to a suitable surface.

It is another object of this invention to provide a laminating device having means for permitting the initial engagement of the tag or label with the adhesive coated surface of a protective film and having further means responsive to movement of the free end of the film to bring the information bearing face and the adhesive bearing faces into smooth and continued juxtaposition to thereby produce a tag having a protective coating thereon with adhesve bearing peripheral borders for securement of the Vlabel to an appropriate surface.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a new and improved label laminating device having a roll of adhesive coated transparent film rotatably mounted in a device and a set of pressing rollers spaced from the roll of adhesive film and closely spaced from each other through which a leading strip of adhesive film maybe webbed and provided with a means for feeding the tag or label between the pressing rollers so that the tag may initially contact the sticky surface of the adhesive film and wherein the rollers are mounted in such Ia fashion so that, in response to a pull on the leading edge of the adhesive strip, the rollers will be moved into operative engagement wherein a continued pull on the tape will cause the mutual advancement of the tag and tape and press the tag into smooth adherence with the tape.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a laminating device wherein the pressing rollers are normally misaligned relative to each other so that a tag may 'be inserted therebetween with the free end of the tag positioned at a point substantially in alignment with the operating bight of the rollers, the means for mounting the rollers responsive to advancement of the tape to move one misaligned roller to an operating position wherein the free end of the tag is initially pressed against the tape Whereupon continued advancement of the tape subsequently draws the tape and tag between the rollers to produce a lamination thereof.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a laminating device having means therein for preventing the retraction of a free end of a Istrip of tape during periods of non-operation of the device.

Other objects, features and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE l is a top plan view of the device of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal section view of the device shown in FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view of the device of this invention;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary vertical section view taken along the line 4-4 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary vertical section view taken along the line 5 5 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of a laminated label produced 'by the device of this invention; and

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the device of this invention showing a modified arrangement for mounting the upper pressing roller for movement to a laminating position in response to a pull on the leading edge of the adhesive strip.

Referring now to the drawings, the label laminator 10 of this invention is shown as comprising a housing 12 which includes rear wall 12a, front wall 12b, side wall 12C and side wall 12d. Mounted on the top of either side wall 12C and 12d are the lateral rails 14a and 14by respectively.

The label laminator of this invention is intended for use with a card, label, tag or the like, 16, and is adapted to provide a film covering v18 thereover. For this purpose, a roll 1gb of preferably transparent polyester film or tape is rotatably mounted between the sides of the housing for providing leading strips 18a which may be withdrawn therefrom. The film is provided with a sticky or adhesive coated side 20a and a smooth or non-adhesive side 2Gb. The general purpose of the device is to feed a tag or label or the like into facial engagement with the adhesive coated side of the clear plastic film to secure the tag to the film and provide a protective covering thereover. In particular, if the tag has an information bearing side, which is common for mailing labels and the like, the information bearing side is to be placed aganst the stcky side of the tape so that it may show through. In addition, the relative width of the tape is inended to be such that it will exceed that of the tag and, the location of a means for severing selected lengths of the strips is to be such so that, in combination with the relative Widths of the tape and the tag, the finished laminated product will be provided with peripheral borders of adhesive film by means of which the lamination may be secured to any desired surface, thereby adequately protecting, as well as adequately securing, the laminated tag, card or label or the like with, if desired, the information bearing side of the tag presented to view through the transparent film.

To this end, the laminator is provided with a ltag support or feed means 22. In the preferred embodiment, means 22 is shown as having a forwardly and downwardly inclined face 22a. It is to be understood that the means 22 is provided for feeding the card 16 in such a manner as to position the card for initial engagement 3 with the sticky side 20a of the strip 18a and that other congurations may suflice for this purpose. The roll is positioned in the illustrated embodiment with the adhesive side 205: facing up. To prevent the accumulation of dust particles and the like on the tape during inoperative periods, a dust shield 22h is provided in the area above the tape. The roll 1gb is wound about a spindle 24 which rotatably rests in an inclined slot or groove 26 formed in each of the side walls 12C and 12d. The slot is open at the top end so that the roll may be easily inserted or withdrawn from the housing.

Mounted in the housing near the front wall 12b are the pressing members, laminating means or rollers 28 and 30. Roller 28 is shown positioned below the roller 30 in the preferred embodiment and will hereinafter be referred to as lower roller. This roller is mounted about a spindle or pin 28a which is rotatably journaled in a suitable opening ZSb formed in each of the side rails 14a and 14b to rotatably mount the roller in the housing generally transverse to the longitudinal extent thereof, as well as transverse to the longitudinal extent of the strip 18a. The roller 30, hereinafter referred to as upper roller is similarly mounted about a spindle or pin 30a in general alignment with the roller 28, transverse to Vthe longitudinal extent of the housing and the longitudinal extent of the strip 18a.

In the art of laminating a continuous paper-like strip to a tape, it is well known that :this may be accomplished by webbing the strip and tape between the pressing rollers to bring the same into facial engagement. Continuous advancement of the tape also continuously draws the strip therewith. However, there are problems encountered inV attempting to laminate envelopes, tags or cards of nite length to a relatively continuous or endless tape which are different from those encountered in the lamination of a relatively continuous or endless strip with the tape. In particular, in strip lamination once the initial free edge of the strip is webbed between the rollers together with the tape to which it is to be laminated, there is no further problem of presenting a forward edge of the strip to the rollers, nor is there the problem of unlaminated tape held between the rollers during periods of nonactivity. However, with sequential tag lamination, these problems do occur.

In strip or tag lamination, the tag or strip and the adhesive coated hn to which the tag or strip is to be laminated are passed through a restricted laminating passage (usually rollers or stationary arcuate surfaces) between which the dhesive and the strip or tag are firmly pressed together. The distance between these laminating members must -be at least slightly less than the combined thickness of the adhesive and the strip or tag. Attempts to feed a tag of finite length for laminating into such a passage produced undesirable results. Moreover, because of the necessity for the close conetact between the laminated members and because of the presence of an un- Vcoated adhesive surface at the lamination point when attempting tag laminations, the adhesive would tend to adhere to the periphery of one of the rollers and removal therefrom presented diflculties. Thus it is desirable to provide -a laminating device capable of laminating cards or labels to a continuous strip of tape. To this end, the laminator of this invention is provided with a novel arrangement for mounting the pressing rollers.

In particular, the upper roller is mounted in the rails 14a and 14b by means 32 for normally positioning the roller in an inoperative position and for moving the upper roller to an operating position responsive to an advancement on the strip of tape 18a. In the preferred embodiment shown in FIGURES l through 4, this means includes an upright slot 34 formed in each of the rails 14a and 14b and opening to the top thereof, permitting easy insertion and removal of the roller. The slot 34 is provided with an upwardly and rearwardly inclined lbottom or cam surface 36 and terminates in a laterally offset recess or notch 38. The roller spindle 30a, inclined bottom 36 and notch 38 combine to provide a means responsive to an upward and forward pull on the tape,`

such as when the tape is in the dotted outline position shown in FIGURE 2, to cause the upper roller to cant Y Y upwardly and rearwardly so as to come in substantiallyV direct vertical alignment with the lower roller, which position will be hereinafter referred to as the operating position, wherein continuedV advancement of the tape causes advancement of the tag 16 and the tape through the pressing rollers for firmly Vand smoothly securing the tag to the sticky side of the tape. An alternate means 32a for mounting the upper roller is shown in FIGURE 7 wherein the upper roller is mounted about a sleeve 34a having an enlarged bore 36a which permits the same movement to be imparted to the upper roller responsive sectional depth than the diameter of the spindle 30a so that the spindle, and therefore the roller, is free to move vertically relative to the notches 34 and 38 for a limited distance, which movement is reflected -as movement'toward and away from the roller 28. Thus the upper rollerI is free to lioat to accommodate the thicknesses of the product being laminated. 'I'his tends to insure an equal pressure throughout the lamination (the pressure being Y only the weight of the roll) to promote straight, wrinklefree laminating. Where the rollers 28 and 30 are fixed relative to each other, if the laminated product fed there-V through is too thick for the passageway between the members, the product tends to pull towards the side where the bind is greatest. In addition, wrinkling of the lamination frequently occurs in these circumstances. The device of this invention requires no adjustment for different thicknesses of card, tag or envelopes to be laminated and insures proper alignment of the materials fed therethrough since only the weight of the free floating roller acts upon the laminated product. Thus, due to the weight of the upper roller and its self-aligning feeding, equal pressures are applied throughout the entire range of the label at the point of roller contact, irrespective of the thickness of the label to be laminated. Because the notch 38 is in# clined upwardly and rearwardly even though the spindle 30a and roller 30 are substantially free floating, therinclination of the notch promotes the inuence of gravity upon the roller to insure that the roller weight will be inuential during lamination. Y

A cutting knife 40 is mounted near the top of the outside Vof the front wall 12b so as to present a sharp cutting edge 40a at a height which is slightly higher than the bottom of the top roller 30. The selected lengths of tape which have been pulled between the pressing rollers may be cut by a downward pull along the knife edge to separate the laminated tag and tape from the remainder of the Y strip at a point spaced rearwardly of the rear edge 16b of the tag thereby providing a forward and rearward peripheral border of adhesive film. This also leaves a suiicient forward marginal portion of the strip to facilitate finger grasping thereof for the next operation of the device which forward marginal portion may become the forward peripheral border of the laminated product.

Mounted on the top of the front wall 12b and slightly to the rear of the knife 40 are impaling means, or tape retraction prevention means, or barbs 42. When the tape is pulled downwardly along the knife edge to sever a selected portion, these barbs 42 will puncture the tape, thus the'lamination will be fed unevenly becauseV holding the same against retraction or rearward move. ment and insuring that a suitable length of the free end of the tape is always available to permit facile grasping thereof for the next operation of the device. A simple upward movement to the dotted outline position as shown in FIGURE 2 will easily release the tape from its impalement upon the barbs 42. The height of the cutting edge and location of the barbs which require an initial upward movement of the free end of the tape prior to advancement thereof, tend to cause an operator to naturally properly position the tape for moving the upper roller to an operative position prior to advancement of the tape.

In operation, a card, label or tag, or the like, 16, is placed on the forwardly inclined face 22a so that the free end of the tag 1Gb contacts Athe sticky side 20a of the tape. Because the upper roller is normally slightly forwardly misalgned (relative to the direction of advancement) of the lower roller, this permits the free end of the tag to be initially positioned at a point which is almost in direct alignment with the axis of the two rollers, when the upper roller is in the operating position. The free end of the` tape is then lifted upwardly and released from its impalement on the barbs 42 to the dotted line position shown in FIGURE 2. This causes the upper roller to cant upwardly and rearwardly into alignment with the lower roller and thereby squeeze the free end of the tag therebetween to initially press the free end against the sticky surface of the tape whereupon continued advancement in the direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG- URE 2 will cause successive adherence of the tag to the sticky side 20a of the tape. Moreover, the pressing engagement of the two rollers is such that any irregularities in the label as it is fed therebetween will be smoothed out by the rollers so that the finished product will present a smooth and non-wrinkled appearance.

When the trailing edge 16e` of the tag has been advanced to a point wherein it is spaced forwardly of the knife 40, the tape may then be brought downward across the knife edge 40a, causing impalement of the tape to the rear of the knife edge to provide a nished product as shown in FIGURE 6 which constitutes a laminated label having a surface of clear transparent film and an adhesive coated peripheral border to facilitate securement of the laminated label or tag to an appropriate surface.

It is to be understood that the embodiments shown in these drawings are only a few of the specic structures which can employ the concept of this invention, that conT cept being the provision of a means for mounting the pressing members which permits the leading end of tags of different thicknesses to be initially positioned in engagement with the adhesive surface of a tape at a point on one of the members which becomes the point of laminating engagement of the two pressing members when the laminating device is operated and the tape is advanced. Because of this provision, the free end of the tag is initially pressed against the sticky surface of the tape upon initial advancing movement of the tape which brings one pressing member into operative alignment with the other member so that subsequent advancement of the tape feeds the tape and tag between the pressing members to produce the laminated product. It is to be further understood that while the specific mode of tape advancement shown inthe preferred embodiment is by hand pulling, that more sophisticated means utilizing well-known crank structures or other mechanical or electromechanical advancing means could be employed within the concept of this invention. The structure and concept disclosed herein affords a simple yet fool-proof means for suitably laminating tags, such as labels, cards or the like, in a facile and rapid manner.

The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom for some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

We claim:

1. A laminating device for applying tags to adhesive strips, comprising: a housing; a roll of tape rotatably supported in said housing; pressing means in said housing spaced from said tape roll forming a laminating passage through which a strip of tape from said roll is webbed; means on said housing for feeding a tag between said pressing means in a position to contact the tape webbed therethrough; means for mounting said pressing means in said housing 4for movement between a normal position wherein the pressing means is out of laminating engagement relative to the tape and tag fed therebetween, and a laminating position wherein the pressing means is in a position to laminate tapes and tags fed therebetween, said mounting means for said pressing means being movable responsive to advancement of the tape to move the pressing means into laminating engagement for initially pressing the tag on the tape, whereupon continued advancement of the tape continues the lamination of the tag to the tape.

2. The laminating device of claim 1 wherein a cutting edge is provided spaced from said pressing means so that selected strips may be severed from the tape after having been passed between the pressing members.

3. The laminating device of claim 2 including means spaced slightly rearwardly of the cutting edge but forwardly of the pressure means for preventing the retraction of a leading portion of the tape so that a leading portion will always be in a position for rapid and easy securement thereof.

4. The laminating device of claim 1 wherein the means for pressing comprises a pair of rollers and said rollers are freely adjustable relative to each other to accommodate laminations of different thicknesses, and the means for mounting the rollers includes a cam slot formed in the housing from which one of the rollers may be easily withdrawn at any time without the need for tools.

5. The laminating device of claim 1 wherein the means for pressing comprises a pair of rollers and the means for mounting the rollers includes an enlarged bore in one of the rollers relative to a mounting pin extending therethrough which adapts the roller for movement relative to the pin responsive to advancement of the tape.

6. The laminating device of claim 4 wherein the means for feeding the tag between the rollers includes an inclined plate which is positioned to feed the tag so that the free end of the tag contacts the tape at a point on the periphery of one of the rollers with the face of the tag spaced from the other roller when the other roller is in the normal position, and wherein said face of the tag is so positioned that when the tape is advanced and the other roller moves responsive to said advancement to the operating position, the periphery of the other roller will engage the face of the tag to press the free end of the tag against the opposing surface of the tape.

7. A laminating device for applying tags to adhesive strips, comprising: a housin-g having spaced side, front and rear walls; a roll of tape rotatably supported in said housing between said side walls; a pair of laminating rollers in said housing spaced from said tape roll and closely spaced from each other to form a laminating passage through which a strip of tape from said roll is webbed; means on said housing for feeding a tag between said laminating rollers in a position to contact the tape webbed therethrough, one of said rollers being normally offset relative to the other relative to the tag feeding means to permit the leading edge of a tag to be initially positioned at the point of laminating engagement of the rollers, said one roller mounted by means responsive to advancement of the tape to move the roller into laminating engagement with the other roller to initially press the leading edge of the tag on the tape, so that continued advancement of the tape causes continued lamination of the tape and the tag.

S. A laminator for applying tags to adhesive strips, comprising: a housing having spaced side, front and rear walls; a roll of tape rotatably supported in said housing between said side walls, a pair of laminating rollers mounted in said housing in substantially vertical tandem in spaced relationship to said tape roll and closely spaced from each other, said mounting of saidrrollers forming a laminating passage through which a strip of tape from said roll is webbed; means on said housing for feeding a tag between the rollers in a position to contact the tape webbed therethrough; and a slot for mounting one of said rollers to normally position the roller slightly ahead of the other roller relative to the tag and tape supply means and slightly below the other roller relative to the lower periphery of the one roller and the upper periphery of the other roller, said slot being inclined upwardly and rearwardly to position the laminating rollers in laminating engagement responsive to an upward and rearward pull on the tape and to move the upper roller out of laminating engagement with the lower roller responsive to release of an upward and forward pull on the tape.

Y 9. The laminating device of claim 8 wherein the laminating rollers are mounted in said housing rearwardly of said front wall and said front wall is provided with a knife .8 edge for severing selected strips o f tape, the upper edge of said knife edge' lies in a plane slightlyV higher than the lower edge of the upper roller when said Iupper roller is in laminating engagement with said lower roller. 10. The laminating device of claim 9 includingrmeans on said front wall spaced slightly rearwardly of the cutg ting edge for preventing the retraction of a leading por-V tion of the tape.

11. The laminating device of claim 8 wherein said roll of tape is mounted in said housing rearwardly and below said laminating rollers in a position wherein a leading strip of the tape is fed upwardly and forwardly therefrom to the laminating rollers.

2,335,033 11/1943 Tompkins 156-552 EARL M. BERGERT, Primary Examiner. DOUGLAS I. DRUMMOND, Examiner. 

1. A LAMINATING DEVICE FOR APPLYING TAGS TO ADHESIVE STRIPS, COMPRISING: A HOUSING; A ROLL OF TAPE ROTATABLY SUPPORTED IN SAID HOUSING; PRESSING MEANS IN SAID HOUSING SPACED FROM SAID TAPE ROLL FORMING A LAMINATING PASSAGE THROUGH WHICH A STRIP OF TAPE FROM SAID ROLL IS WEBBED; MEANS ON SAID HOUSING FOR FEEDING A TAG BETWEEN SAID PRESSING MEANS IN A POSITION TO CONTACT THE TAPE WEBBED THERETHROUGH; MEANS FOR MOUNTING SAID PRESSING MEANS IN SAID HOUSING FOR MOVEMENT BETWEEN A NORMAL POSITION WHEREIN THE PRESSING MEANS IS OUT OF LAMINATING ENGAGEMENT RELATIVE TO THE TAPE AND TAG FED THERBETWEEN, AND A LAMINATING POSITION WHEREIN THE PRESSING MEANS IS IN A POSITION TO LAMINATE TAPES AND TAGS FED THEREBETWEEN, 